Intestinal surgery performed by gynecologists

Our objective was to compare the feasibility and safety of surgical procedures to treat gynecological pathologies with intestinal involvement performed by skilled gynecological surgeons and by a multidisciplinary team of gynecologists plus colorectal surgeons.

We performed a comparative, observational, prospective study at a tertiary referral center. The population included all women undergoing bowel surgery for gynecological pathologies over a 3-year period. Cases were analyzed by the specialty of the main surgeon performing the intestinal procedure. The main outcome measures were surgical procedure characteristics and postoperative outcomes and complications.

A total of 65 women were included. Surgery was exclusively performed by a subspecialized gynecologist in 30.8% of the women, and undertaken by a multidisciplinary team (colorectal surgeons and gynecologists) in 69.2%. The main demographic and clinical characteristics were comparable in both groups. Main indications for bowel resection in gynecological surgery were advanced ovarian cancer and deep infiltrating endometriosis. In addition to the standard gynecological surgical procedures, a total of 135 intestinal segments were resected, with sigmoid colon the most frequent intestinal segment resected in both groups (53% in the gynecologist group and in 60% in the multidisciplinary group). No significant differences were observed between the two groups in the distribution and frequency of surgical techniques used, rate of complications, mean hospitalization time or frequency of re-intervention.

Skilled gynecological surgeons appear to be equally good at handling common intestinal problems as a team of gynecologist and colorectal surgeons.